Many New Moms Feel 'Unready' at Hospital Discharge

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"The data suggests that mothers and clinicians must make the decision jointly," said Bernstein. He added that, "To increase readiness, it's critical to emphasize personalized discharge plans for that infant and his or her family."

Additionally, Bernstein said the researchers found that the length of a hospital stay was not a determinant of readiness.

"This study shows that the time in the hospital is not the issue; education is a more important issue," said Dr. Robert Welch, chairman and program director of obstetrics and gynecology at St. John Health's Providence Hospital in Southfield, Mich.

Welch pointed out that changes in society may have created this issue. In the past, when women came home from the hospital, a grandmother was often there to help out and teach newborn care.

"A lot of times now, moms are going home, and they're alone with the baby, and she may not have an appropriate support system in place, or day care if she's planning on going back to work," said Welch.

"From the time that they have the first inkling that they want to have a baby, women should start building a support system," he suggested.

Welch also believes that it might be a good idea for hospitals to provide more standardized postpartum education. Right now, individual centers design their own programs, and he said that what's included in those after-birth education programs can vary greatly from hospital to hospital.

Bernstein said his team is continuing its work to see if postpartum unreadiness had any effect on the newborns. Their next study will look at the health outcomes of these newborns at four weeks after hospital discharge.

And, he added, "We're hoping to come up with a score to be used at discharge, similar to the Apgar score just after birth, that can help clinicians predict who is ready and who is not ready, so appropriate postpartum supports or services can be put in place."

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more information on bringing baby home.